On The Mark: It's time to consider prison rates

Once again, husband Rod Walli and I headed out to clear the Fond du Lac Forest cross-country ski trail of annual downfalls and upstart saplings. Once again, the Willow River Challenge Incarceration Program men and Sgt. Steve Whited joined us. I introduced myself - masked just like they were - to each man and thanked him for his work.

On the trails we encountered more downfalls than usual. But we managed to get the A to B trails and the way back to the parking lot cleared. It helped that Rod brought his chainsaw. He worked his way down through dozens of poplar and pine downfalls averaging a foot and a half in girth, some much larger. Alongside him, the CIP men hefted each chunk and flung it into the surrounding woods. Others used pruners and loppers to cut off the saplings at ground level.

Readers may remember that the CIP was on the chopping block this year, along with a similar one in Togo. The Minnesota Department of Corrections was expected to undertake its share of cost cutting given state budget shortfalls. It was quite a battle.

In Carlton County, where many CIP employees live and shop, the city of Moose Lake hosted a large rally in August to oppose the closing. Area politicians, from the mayor of Moose Lake to our state legislators, gave passionate speeches about the value of the program to our communities. Eventually, after many a special session, the DOC and the state legislature found a way to fund Willow River and Togo. At least for another year, the programs continue.

On the DOC website, you can find current prisoner data for Willow River. As of Dec. 7, the program housed 77 offenders. They range in age from 22 to 57, some 43 percent of them in the 26 to 35 age range. The majority are white, 22 percent are African American, and 13 percent are American Indian. I enjoy meeting and working with these men.

I introduce myself to each one and learn their names.

Lately, I've been following the growing movement among states, the federal government and counties to close prisons. They are expensive, they can be dangerous, and in this time of Covid, they may be disease breeding grounds. Many states, including Oklahoma and California, have released prisoners early this year, prompted by Covid but also by changes in both public sentiment and the fiscal costs of large-scale, long-term incarceration.

In Minnesota, Ramsey County - home to our state capitol in St. Paul - has been a leader in reducing incarceration numbers. A Star Tribune article on Nov. 29 by Shannon Prather reported that Ramsey County cut the number of people sent to prison by nearly half in the past decade, in sharp contrast to state and neighboring metro counties.

A thoughtful column by our publisher, Pete Radosevich, in the July 5 issue of the Pine Knot News, argued that Carlton County should not take on an expensive new jail project without first implementing reform ideas.

The U.S. prison population has grown substantially in the past 40 years. The Sentencing Project, a research and advocacy group, reports that in 1969, the national crime rate was 3,680 per 100,000 population. The incarceration rate was 97 state and federal prisoners per 100,000 population. Today, the crime rate is 3,667 but the incarceration rate is five times higher, at 492 per 100,000. High rates of incarceration, they conclude, lead to poor outcomes for communities.

Across the nation, policymakers and criminal justice stakeholders are increasingly exploring other policy options.

It's an achievement that public protest, our area politicians' advocacy, and a lot of elbow grease helped to reverse the decision to close Willow River and Togo programs. It makes good sense, because this first-time offender program reduces recidivism substantially.

We have to be ready for a second-round fight to keep the CIP funded. Covid shutdowns of offices, plants, and retailers, and high rates of unemployment have decimated revenues from taxes that normally fund state public sector programs.

Most of us know little about the overall effectiveness of our state prison system. How high are rates of recidivism? How do per inmate costs vary across our state prison system? Are sentences too severe? Are offenders in higher security prisons whose crimes are comparable to those in the CIP more or less apt to re-offend?

Most of us don't know much about how our state's prison sector works, what it costs, and whether it makes our communities safer and how. Let's make greater visibility and scrutiny of incarceration budgets, programs and effectiveness in reducing crime.

I hope to be out on the trails with the CIP for years to come.

Ann Markusen is an economist and professor emerita at University of Minnesota. She lives north of Cromwell.

Rod Walli.